Two Guys on Your Head

In conversations hosted by producer Rebecca McInroy, the two renowned psychologists cover everything from the effects of sugar on the brain, to what's happening in our minds while we sleep, and much, much more.

Listen to the Two Guys every Friday at 7:51 a.m., 1:49 and 4:51 p.m. on KUT-FM. You can always dig into the posts below or checkout and subscribe to podcasts via iTunes.

We'd love to know what you're curious about! Email us your topics and suggestions at twoguys@kut.org. And follow Two Guys on Twitter: @2GoYH

Kids these days typically get a trophy for participation in most events. Some argue that the practice ultimately serves as a disincentive for a child to compete. Others ask, if your kid is smiling, what more do you want?

In this week's edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke look into the system of reward and evaluate what we are rewarding and why.

So you just got that raise you've been working toward, and a new project starts tomorrow, and you're making great money, but — you don't really like the work. You're moving up, but you're not happy. It might be time to re-evaluate your situation, and maybe get on a different proverbial treadmill.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the concept of The Hedonic Treadmill, and what we can do to set ourselves up for a happier life.

Failure is a word that carries a lot of baggage, arousing emotional responses that we’d usually rather avoid.

What about success? Why does the thought of success conjure images and feelings of comfort and satisfaction. This week, "Two Guys on Your Head" examine how the heights of success and the "training wheels" of failure impact our everyday lives.

Our sensory systems are pretty smart. Typically we like things that are going to be good for us to ingest, and dislike things that are going to be bad for us to ingest. Pretty simple right? Not so much!

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about benefit of the disgust reaction, and how we as human beings co-opt that system and use it more conceptually than it what it’s meant for. Therefore disgust has come to have a moral dimension to it.

Food can be delicious, heart-warming and life-sustaining. So, how did eating become a constant battle with the refrigerator?

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Bob Duke and Dr. Arthur Markman discuss the challenges in maintaining a healthy diet and how changing our perspectives on food may be a vital approach to solving these problems.

Therapy can be life-changing. However, anyone who’s ever seen a bad therapist likely agrees, on at least some level, that virtual therapy may be a step in the right direction. But is it actually effective?

Virtual therapy offers a true judgment-free zone. It also removes much of the shame and fear associated with telling even (or perhaps especially) the kindest of therapist one’s deepest and darkest secrets. It’s also much more convenient and, likely, inexpensive.

However, a good therapist can sense what’s going on beneath the surface. Due to the way the brain is structured, we can rationalize our emotional problems in a way that fits into the context of our current environment and feels safe, which can have little to do with accuracy. A good therapist also provides advice on how to face these issues, as we become ready to hear it.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss the purposes of therapy and provide some perspective on the roles virtual therapy can and can’t fill.

Most people feel in over their heads when they first enter a challenging situation or even a new job. And, while conventional wisdom suggests those with trepidations about trying new things should "fake it 'til they make it," it may not always be the best course of action.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Bob Duke and Dr. Art Markman discuss what's known as "imposter syndrome" — the practice of pretending to be the person you want people to see you as rather than who you truly are — and explain why it may just be better to just start working towards your goals instead of faking it.

Painkillers: Our societal views on pain are right there in the name of its cure — or, rather, primary form of treatment.

The high reliance on painkillers by the medical community has become an increasingly controversial topic. And for patients, that reliance can easily transform a treatment to an addiction or recreational drug use.

Pain can range from barely noticeable to excruciating. Yet pain, in all its forms, is important. It is how the body communicates there is a problem.

Physical pain in the ankle may ask us to stop walking so fast or demand a pair of crutches immediately. Likewise, emotional pain may indicate that we need to talk about a problem with our partner or severe the relationship entirely.

In this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke, add to the series on pain and the brain, with a discussion on emotional pain and memory.

Understanding how our brains interpret pain is an ongoing investigation. Some think pain can be as much a physical phenomenon as it is a cultural one. While in the West pain management seems to be just part of life. We wanted to investigate what psychology can tell us about pain and the brain.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke, kick off our three-part series on "Pain and The Brain" with a discussion of "Phantom Pain." What it is, and how psychologists are finding new ways of helping patients who suffer with it.

Even though is seems like a neverending April day in Austin, it's technically summertime. For some of us that means we take a break, with the intention of tackling all those projects we never had time to get to during the harsh Austin winter.

So why, when the summer comes to an end, do we feel disappointed when we haven't written that novel or cleaned out the closets?

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the many elements of summer that can make it difficult to let go, and how re-thinking our intentions and being present can allow us to make the most of time off.

Science produces some pretty groundbreaking discoveries, but when we focus on the products, as opposed to the process, we miss a huge part of what makes science one of the most valuable resources we have as humans.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about some of the aspects of science education that could be improved upon, in order to ensure we have a public that's well-informed.

When you think of science, what comes to mind? Maybe you think about launching rockets into space, or antibiotics, or the electric car?

Maybe not. But let's say you do. If that is the case, it's more accurate to say you love what scientific developments have brought us, but not necessarily science itself.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about what science is, why the scientific process is important to understand and why it's so difficult to communicate science to the general public.

Philosophers have long proposed that there is no objective reality. And now science agrees — at least as far as our personal experiences are concerned.

Perception is the process of interpreting our present environment through the lens of our past experiences. Everything we sense, think, feel, and even remember, actually arises in response to a combination of what is currently happening and our stored long-term memories.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Bob Duke and Dr. Art Markman discuss the evolutionary advantages of flexible perception, and how this process can influence both our behavior and modern day society.

Do ever get that burning feeling in your stomach that a situation just isn't fair and you must react? That feeling is an important part of our motivational system, and something we as humans evolved to protect.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss how defiance may be best viewed, and responded to, as a reassertion of autonomy in situations where people feel a loss of control and self-identity.

Have you ever worked with a group of people on a project and really felt like you carried the lion's share of the weight? And then you think back on it and realize you always do more, you always have the great idea, and you never get the recognition you rightfully deserve?

It might be that you are both the problem and the solution.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the psychology of egocentric bias. It can be pretty destructive, but not necessarily in ways we predict.

Are you an auditory learner or a visual learner? If you answered, "yes," you'd be right. That's because we use all our senses to learn and process information.

In this edition of Two Guys On Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke dispel the myths behind learning styles preferences: In fact, they don’t really exist.

Our reliance on the theories of learning styles to explain our success or failure of understanding certain information is actually more about serving our human need to put things into categories – combined with our need to explain things when they don’t work.

Have you ever told someone, "Hey, I read that book!" then continued with a guilty, "...well, I listened to the audio version."

It's time to wash that guilt right out of your soul, because in this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke, talk about how our brains process information differently based on how we consume it.

The idea that money doesn't make you happy is easy to get behind if you have it, but if you don't it can be a hard concept to buy into (pun intended). Yet the correlation between money and happiness is more complicated then one might think.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke explain the relationship between money, security, opportunity, memory and happiness.

Negotiations are everywhere, in almost every element of our daily lives, but how do we understand negotiations? It turns out that the way we frame the idea of negotiation has a lot to do with how we understand value and happiness.

What is the value of our relationships? As it turns out, the way we answer that question defines the relationship itself.

In this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the various ways we understand the economics of the relationships in our lives, and why the value of community should never be underestimated.

There's no such thing as a "tell." For example, when people look up, fidget or stutter they might just be nervous, and not exactly lying. However, because we rely on the truth to make our culture go round, it might make our lives easier if we could just spot a liar out of the crowd.

As it turns out you can tell if people are telling the truth or not, but it takes some skill, time and knowledge.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about lying, and a new study that reveals a more accurate way to catch someone in a lie.

There are a lot of factors that help to regulate our overall heath and wellness. If we are content in our life and relationships, we are more likely to be healthy.

If we exercise and eat well, we reap the benefits in our mind and body. And, as recent studies by Ted Kaptchuck and others show, if we take medications or supplements, even if they're nothing but rice powder and sugar, we can feel better.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about why taking placebos somehow makes us feel healthier.

"She hit me first!” “He never said he was sorry!” "She doesn’t care if I forgive her, so why should I?”

From the time we are very small, our interpersonal relationships are based on conflict. But in this edition of Two Guys on Your HeadDr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the psychological purpose of forgiveness.

Did you ever have a relationship that makes you cringe thinking back on it? What did I ever even see in that person? you ask yourself. Good news though: You don't have to wallow in self-pity for long, because it turns out that we can overlook almost anything if we want to.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about why we wear "rose colored glasses," or are sometimes repulsed by certain people seemingly without reason.

Have you ever thought of a friend you haven't seen in a long time only to run into them the same day? Have you ever thought of a historical figure and had that same person be a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle?

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke explain the psychology behind coincidence and why looking at the world through a more mathematical lens might help people see things differently.

Paranoia is an interesting feeling. People can, and often do, spin stories about almost anything. But most of the time, in functioning brains, people can check their stories with others to "collaborate" with reality, making them less likely to spiral downward into a paranoid state.

However, if cognitive functioning is impaired (from not getting enough sleep, drinking or drugs, or mental illness) it's more difficult to check in, and paranoid thoughts can run wild.

There's a time during childhood when something as innocuous as an impending bedtime can cause uncontrollable tears, screaming and thrashing. The question for parents and caregivers is: What's the best way to deal with a tantrum?

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about why people throw temper tantrums and how to deal with them in the future.

If you love soap operas, you are well aware that 1 in 10 people are likely to suffer head trauma and completely forget whether they are supposed to marry Brad, Bo, or Branna. But in real life that type of retrograde amnesia is not that common at all.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the different types of amnesia and how we know what we do about memory loss.